Throughout much of the offseason, the discussion regarding the quarterback position for the Pittsburgh Steelers centered on the fit that third-year veteran Kenny Pickett projected to be in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense, how much belief the franchise had in Pickett moving forward, and just how much the Steelers desired to have Mason Rudolph re-sign with them in to provide some competition for Pickett in 2024.
Even at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine in late February, that seemed to be the case. In Indianapolis, GM Omar Khan tripled down on the Steelers’ external belief in Pickett, stating that he had “full faith” in Pickett moving forward.
While the Steelers were always going to add a couple of quarterbacks this offseason in free agency, through the NFL draft, and with an undrafted free agent, the expectation and overall belief was that it wouldn’t be of the high-profile variety, instead focusing on the batch of names like Ryan Tannehill, Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew II and more.
Then, things changed with the Russell Wilson meeting last Friday, eventually leading to him agreeing to sign with the Steelers on a one-year, $1.21 million deal late Sunday night.
For ESPN’s Dan Graziano, during an appearance on Get Up Monday morning, something changed drastically in the Steelers’ approach at the position. And it might have just been the realization of the cost of Wilson, which comes on a veteran minimum deal as the Denver Broncos remain on the hook for the other $37 million he is owed for the 2024 season.
“The Combine it seemed pretty clear that this was not the Steelers’ plan, right? That they were talking about bringing in competition for Pickett, but not necessarily one of the bigger name guys. So, something changed and I wonder if it’s just as simple as the realization of how low the cost is, right?” Graziano said, according to video via ESPN. “You don’t have to trade anything to get him. You can pay him literally the minimum salary and it’s all upside. And frankly, look, it’s not the most stable of situations if you’re Russell Wilson. I believe, as everyone else seems to that, that he’ll beat out Kenny Pickett for the starting job, but if hypothetically he didn’t? It doesn’t cost him anything to move on.”
Something certainly changed from the Steelers’ vantage point this offseason, as Graziano pointed out. It very much could just be the cost that Wilson was going to be, landing at veteran minimum due to the offsets in his contract with the Broncos.
While the Steelers talked about bringing in competition for Pickett, Wilson doesn’t exactly fit the mold of “competition” for the third-year veteran. Wilson should walk in as the Day 1 starter for the Black and Gold. That’s why you make this move right now, giving an aging team — especially defensively – a chance to win now while also landing a veteran leader for an offense that struggled from a leadership standpoint in 2022 and 2023.
Wilson can fill that leadership role offensively, and he can make enough plays to truly lead the offense to a respectable level, even with some declining physical skills.
But something certainly changed for the Steelers to go from fully backing Pickett and wanting Rudolph back, to pivoting quickly to Wilson, bringing in the future Hall of Fame quarterback. As Graziano stated, it could be that they saw no downside to the move financially and decided to take a shot.
If that’s the case, more power to them. Good on Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Khan for doing what’s best for the team and searching for that upgrade. Make no mistake: that’s what they found with Wilson.
